Great Innovators of North East England

North-east England, defined here as the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham, has a long, proud tradition of producing great innovators, some very well-known and others almost forgotten.This book explores their stories and legacies, examining such titanic figures as the Stephensons, Swan and Hunter. The partnership of Richard Grainger and John Dobson, who together transformed Newcastle from a cramped medieval port to a beautiful Victorian city, also feature.Lavishly illustrated throughout, this is a terrific celebration of the industrial and civic achievements of north-east England.

Colin Alexander has been a railway enthusiast for more than thirty years and volunteered on preserved Deltic locomotives. He was born in Northumberland, and has a life-long passion for local and transport history, sparked by his mother’s copy of The King’s England – Northumberland. Appreciative of the county’s unique place geographically and historically, he has explored most of its once-inhabited hilltops and its mediaeval castles, and walked the length of its greatest defensive monument – Hadrian’s Wall. He lives in Whitley Bay.Bob Kelley was born and brought up in that vibrant, but sometimes forgotten region of England, the North East. He has been fascinated with the area’s history from an early age.